Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Oct 30:7:62.
doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-7-62.

Does bright light have an anxiolytic effect? - an open trial

Shawn D Youngstedt  1 , Daniel F Kripke
Affiliations

Does bright light have an anxiolytic effect? - an open trial

Shawn D Youngstedt et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: The aim of this open trial was to examine the influence of acute bright light exposure on anxiety in older and young adults.

Methods: This study was ancillary to a complex 5-day laboratory experiment testing phase-responses to light at all times of the day. On 3 consecutive days, participants were exposed to bright light (3,000 lux) for 3 hours. The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y1) was administered 5 minutes before and 20 minutes after each treatment. Mean state anxiety before and after treatment were analyzed by age, sex, and time ANOVA. To avoid floor effects, only participants with baseline STAI levels of > or = 25 were included.

Results: A significant anxiolytic effect of bright light was found for the mean data, as well as for each of the three days. No significant main effect of age, sex, or interaction of these factors with STAI change were found.

Conclusion: The results show consistent and significant (albeit modest) anxiolytic effects following acute bright light exposure in low anxiety adults. Further randomized, controlled trials in clinically anxious individuals are needed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean (± SE) state anxiety (STAI-Y1) assessed 5 min before and 20 min after bright light treatment (3 hr at 3,000 lux) averaged over three consecutive days. Data are combined across age and sex.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Kessler RC, McGonagle KA, Zhao S, Nelson CB, Hughes M, Eshleman S, Wittchen HO, Kendler KS. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States: results from the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiat. 1994;51:8–19. - PubMed
    1. Regier DA, Narrow WE, Rae DS, Manderscheid RW, Locke BZ, Goodwin FK. The de facto US mental and addictive disorders service system : epidemiologic catchment area prospective 1-year prevalence rates of disorders and services. Arch Gen Psychiat. 1993;50:85–94. - PubMed
    1. Balon R. Mood, anxiety, and physical illness: body and mind, or mind and body? Depression Anxiety. 2006;23:377–87. doi: 10.1002/da.20217. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Muller JE, Koen L, Stein DJ. Anxiety and medical disorders. Current Psychiat Rep. 2005;7:245–51. doi: 10.1007/s11920-005-0077-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Scott KM, Bruffaerts R, Tsang A, Ormel J, Alonso J, Angermeyer MC, Benjet C, Bromet E, de Girolamo G, de Graaf R, Gasquet I, Gureye O, Haro JM, He Y, Kessler RC, Levinson D, Mneimnah ZN, Oakley Browne MA, Posada-Villa JA, Stein DJ, Takeshima T, Van Korff M. Depression-anxiety relationships with chronic physical conditions: Results from the World Mental Health surveys. J Affect Disord. 2007;103:113–120. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2007.01.015. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types